March 17 (PTI): Ayurveda practitioners from across the country assembled to sought standards for Ayurvedic medicines to popularize Ayurveda and create more awareness among people about its health benefits. They also sought from the Centre substantial hike in funding for Ayurveda for research work and creating health infrastructure across the country.

"Standards for Ayurveda medicines should be formed in order to create awareness among people about its health benefits," All India Ayurveda Congress President Devender Triguna said. Recently, All India Ayurveda Congress has held its 58th session here which was attended by President Pranab Mukherjee

Vaidyas (who practice Ayurveda) pointed out that it was essential to come out with standards or certification for Ayurveda medicines so as to make it more popular among people about its "purity". "Our strength is purity and there should be standard to measure it. The standards for Ayurveda medicines should be set like we have ISI mark which will help in building more confidence among people about its remedies," said Ayurveda medicine maker Shree Dhootapapeshwar, ED, Ranjit Puranik.

President Pranab Mukherjee had asked to "demystify and popularize" Ayurvedic medicine through "informative marketing and user-friendly packaging". "Ayurveda and Siddha had laid down protocols for treating diseases that resembled diseases that we know today as HIV and tuberculosis," Mukherjee had said.

Presently, the combined market of Ayurvedic medicines along with naturopathy, Unani is pegged at Rs. 14,000 crore, growing at a rate of 12-14 per cent per annum. Triguna further demanded from the Centre to earmark at least 20 per cent of total health budget for Ayurveda, saying it was essential for carrying out research in this oldest form of medicine and building necessary infrastructure in this regard.